Readiness of Primary Health Care Centers for Implementation of Universal Health Insurance System as perceived by Nursing Staff

Background: Theuniversal health insurance system (UHIS) in Egypt represents a significant shift in the country's approach to healthcare. Aim: to assess the primary health care (PHC) centers readiness for implementation of UHIS. Study design: A descriptive research design was used. Setting: The study was carried out at PHC centers in the El-Badari health district. Subjects: Consist of (40) nursing staff. Tools: The data collected through a self-administered questionnaire including, Part (1): Personal data sheet and Part (2): Service Availability and Readiness Assessment Questionnaire. Results: The highest means score of service availability and readiness in favor of service specific readiness and the lowest mean score in favor of service availability . The lowest mean score of general service readiness is in favor of laboratory capacity and essential medicine. At the PHC center level, The highest readiness was observed in Al-Badary (90.0%) while the lowest readiness was observed in Al-Etmaneya (51.0%). Conclusions: More than half of PHC centers are ready for implementation of a universal health insurance system. Recommendations: Policymakers should create strategies to close existing system gaps for successful and sustainable implementation of the universal health insurance system.